Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2024

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2024 given to Victor Ambros (Affiliation at the time of the award: UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA) and Gary Ruvkun (Affiliation at the time of the award: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA)  for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation.

The information stored within our chromosomes can be likened to an instruction manual for all cells in our body. Every cell contains the same chromosomes, so every cell contains exactly the same set of genes and exactly the same set of instructions. Yet, different cell types, such as muscle and nerve cells, have very distinct characteristics. How do these differences arise? The answer lies in gene regulation, which allows each cell to select only the relevant instructions. This ensures that only the correct set of genes is active in each cell type.

President of India to Confer National Geoscience Awards-2023

The President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu confers the prestigious National Geoscience Awards - 2023 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre, New Delhi in the august presence of Union Minister for Coal & Mines Shri G. Kishan Reddy and Minister of State for Coal & Mines Shri Satish Chandra Dubey.

The National Geoscience Award (NGA) is one of the oldest and most prestigious national awards in geosciences, instituted by the Ministry of Mines, Govt. of India in 1966. Before 2009, these awards were called National Mineral Awards. The objective of these Awards is to honour individuals and teams for extraordinary achievements and outstanding contributions in various fields of geosciences i.e. mineral discovery & exploration, Mining Technology & Mineral Beneficiation, and fundamental/ applied geosciences. Any citizen of India who has made a significant contribution in any field of geosciences is eligible for the award. The Ministry of Mines confers National Geoscience Awards every year in three categories:

• National Geoscience Award for Lifetime Achievement
• National Geoscience Award
• National Young Geoscientist Award

For NGA 2023, 240 nominations were received under different award categories and examined through a three-stage screening process. After detailed deliberations, the Ministry of Mines has finally selected 12 awards which include 09 individual awards and 03 team awards. The 09 individual awards also include the 01 award for the National Geoscience Award for Lifetime Achievement and the 01 award for the National Young Geoscientist Award. These 12 National Geoscience Awards will be presented to 21 Geoscientists by the President of India in the august presence of distinguished geoscientists, scholars, policymakers, and industry leaders.

The National Geoscience Award for Lifetime Achievement will be conferred upon Prof. Dhiraj Mohan Banerjee, Emeritus Scientist, INSA and the National Young Geoscientist Award will be presented to Dr. Ashutosh Pandey, Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Thiruvananthapuram.

Air Chief Marshal AP Singh took over as Chief of the Air Staff (CAS)

Air Chief Marshal AP Singh took over as Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) at a ceremony at Air Headquarters (Vayu Bhawan). The CAS was commissioned on 21 December 1984 in the fighter stream of the IAF. He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Defence Services Staff College and National Defence College. He is a Qualified Flying Instructor and an Experimental Test Pilot with more than 5000 hours of service flying on a variety of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft.

His operational tenures include being the Commanding Officer of a MiG-27 Sqn and Air Officer Commanding an air base. As a test pilot, he led the Mig 29 Upgrade Project Management Team at Moscow, Russia. He was also the Project Director (Flight Test) at the National Flight Test Centre looking after the flight testing of Tejas. During his career spanning four decades, the CAS has tenanted staff appointments as Air Defence Commander at HQ South Western Air Command and Senior Air Staff Officer at Eastern Air Command. Before taking over as Chief of the Air Staff, he was the Vice Chief of the Air Staff.

The CAS is a recipient of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM).In his address to the IAF, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said that he is honoured and privileged to have been entrusted with the responsibility of leading the Indian Air Force. Extending greetings to all Air Warriors, Non-Combatants (Enrolled), DSC personnel, civilians and their families, CAS expressed absolute faith and confidence in their unstinted support and dedication towards maintaining IAF's operational capability at an all-time high.

ADB projects India’s growth for 2024 - 25

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has projected India’s economic growth at 7% for the financial year 2024 and 7.2% for FY2025, stating that the country’s economy remains strong. ADB’s Country Director for India, Mio Oka, said that India has displayed resilience in the face of global geopolitical challenges and is set for steady expansion. Oka added that improvements in agriculture are expected to boost rural spending, complementing the robust performance of the industry and services sectors.

In its September edition of the Asian Development Outlook (ADO), ADB reported that a favorable monsoon across most regions of India is expected to lead to strong agricultural output, positively impacting the rural economy in FY2024. Additionally, the report holds an optimistic view of the industry and services sectors, private investments, and urban consumption for both FY2024 and FY2025.

The new government policy offering employment-linked incentives to workers and firms is expected to increase labor demand and support job creation beginning in FY2025. The report says “With the government’s fiscal consolidation efforts, central government debt is projected to decrease from 58.2% of GDP in FY2023 to 56.8% in FY2024. The general government deficit, which includes state governments, is expected to fall below 8% of GDP in FY2024.”

However, consumer inflation is expected to rise to 4.7% in FY2024 due to higher food prices, despite an increase in agricultural output. ADB noted that inflation has kept the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from lowering policy interest rates. Should agricultural supply improve and food prices moderate, the central bank may consider easing interest rates in FY2024, which could facilitate credit expansion.

Air Marshal SP Dharkar appointed as the next IAF Vice Chief

Air Marshal SP Dharkar, a distinguished fighter pilot, has been appointed as the next Vice Chief of Air Staff. He will succeed Air Marshal AP Singh, who is set to become the Chief of Air Staff. Dharkar will assume his new role once the Chief takes over.

With more than 3,600 flying hours, Air Marshal Dharkar brings extensive experience to the position. He is an alumnus of the Rashtriya Indian Military College in Dehradun, the National Defence Academy in Pune, the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington, and the Air War College in the United States. Commissioned in June 1985, he has earned credentials as a Qualified Flying Instructor, Fighter Strike Leader, Instrument Rating Instructor and Examiner, and Air Force Examiner.

Throughout his career, Dharkar has commanded a frontline fighter squadron and a Fighter Flying Training Establishment. He has also been involved in Professional Military Education, teaching officers at the Defence Services Staff College and the College of Air Warfare in Secunderabad.

In addition to his operational roles, Dharkar has held key positions such as Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Training) at Air Headquarters and Air Defence Commander at the Eastern Air Command. Notably, he was the first Director General of the Defence Space Agency. For the past two years, he has been heading the Eastern Air Command.

ISRO launches Earth Observation Satellite EOS-08

ISRO’s latest Earth Observation Satellite ‘EOS-08’ launched by the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV)-D3 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Shriharikota.The primary objectives of the EOS-08 mission include designing and developing a microsatellite, creating payload instruments compatible with the microsatellite bus, and incorporating new technologies required for future operational satellites.

Image Credit: ISRO

Built on the Microsat/IMS-1 bus, EOS-08 carries three payloads: Electro Optical Infrared Payload (EOIR), Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry payload (GNSS-R), and SiC UV Dosimeter. The EOIR payload is designed to capture images in the Mid-Wave IR (MIR) and Long-Wave IR (LWIR) bands, both during the day and night, for applications such as satellite-based surveillance, disaster monitoring, environmental monitoring, fire detection, volcanic activity observation, and industrial and power plant disaster monitoring. The GNSS-R payload demonstrates the capability of using GNSS-R-based remote sensing for applications such as ocean surface wind analysis, soil moisture assessment, cryosphere studies over the Himalayan region, flood detection, and inland waterbody detection. Meanwhile, the SiC UV Dosimeter monitors UV irradiance at the viewport of the Crew Module in the Gaganyaan Mission and serves as a high-dose alarm sensor for gamma radiation.

The spacecraft mission configuration is set to operate in a Circular Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at an altitude of 475 km with an inclination of 37.4°, and has a mission life of 1 year. The satellite has a mass of approximately 175.5 kg and generates power of around 420 W. It interfaces with the SSLV-D3 launch vehicle. EOS-08 marks a significant advancement in satellite mainframe systems such as an Integrated Avionics system, known as the Communication, Baseband, Storage, and Positioning (CBSP) Package, which combines multiple functions into a single, efficient unit. This system is designed with cold redundant systems using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components and evaluation boards, supporting up to 400 Gb of data storage. Additionally, the satellite includes a structural panel embedded with PCB, an embedded battery, a Micro-DGA (Dual Gimbal Antenna), an M-PAA (Phased Array Antenna), and a flexible solar panel, each serving as key components for onboard technology demonstration.

The satellite employs a miniaturized design in its Antenna Pointing Mechanisms, capable of achieving a rotational speed of 6 degrees per second and maintaining a pointing accuracy of ±1 degree. The miniaturized phased array antenna further enhances communication capabilities, while the flexible solar panel incorporates a foldable solar panel substrate, GFRP tube, and CFRP honeycomb rigid end panel, offering improved power generation and structural integrity. A pyrolytic graphite sheet diffuser plate, known for its high thermal conductivity of 350 W/mK, reduces mass and finds application in various satellite functions. Furthermore, the EOS-08 mission adopts a new method of integrating housekeeping panels using a hinge-based fixture, significantly reducing the duration of the Assembly, Integration, and Testing (AIT) phase.

Incorporating additional novel schemes, the EOS-08 mission improves satellite technology through X-band data transmission, utilizing pulse shaping and Frequency Compensated Modulation (FCM) for X-Band data transmitters. The satellite’s battery management system employs SSTCR-based charging and bus regulation, sequentially including or excluding strings at a frequency of 6 Hz. The mission’s indigenization effort is evident in its solar cell fabrication processes and the use of a Nano-Star Sensor for Microsat Applications. Additionally, the inertial system benefits from reaction wheel isolators that attenuate vibrations and a single antenna interface is utilized for TTC and SPS applications. Thermal management is enhanced using materials such as AFE BGA, Kintex FPGA, Germanium Black Kapton, and STAMET (Si-Al Alloy) Black Kapton to handle the thermal properties of COTS components. The mission also incorporates an auto-launch pad initialization feature, further demonstrating its commitment to innovative mission management.

Nandini Sahakar Yojana

Nandini Sahakar Scheme by the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) is a women-focused framework of financial assistance, project formulation, hand-holding, and capacity development aimed at assisting women cooperatives to take up business model-based activities under the purview of NCDC. There is no minimum or maximum limit on financial assistance to projects by women cooperatives.

Nandini Sahakar Scheme was launched to align itself with the principles of Atmanirbhar Bharat outlined by the Hon’ble Prime Minister. The scheme is a framework of assistance to improve the socio-economic status of women. It supports the entrepreneurial dynamism of women through women's cooperatives. It converges critical inputs of women’s enterprises, business plan formulation, capacity development, credit and subsidy, and interest subvention of other schemes.

NCDC funding is project-based. No proposal has been received from any women's cooperative in Bihar under the Nandini Sahakar Scheme. However, as of 31.03.2024, NCDC has disbursed financial assistance of Rs.6426.36 crore for the development of cooperative societies exclusively promoted by women across the country.